American remains handed over to US military

A ceremony was held at Danang International Airport to repatriate the remains believed to belong to US servicemen declared missing during the Vietnam War.

A ceremony was held at Danang International Airport on June 22 to repatriate the remains believed to belong to US servicemen declared missing during the Vietnam War.

The remains were carried onto a US Air Force plane to return to the United States (US).

They will be taken to the Joint Prisoners of War/Missing In Action Accounting Command (JPAC) located at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, for scientific analysis.

The US government will announce the identities of the remains if the analysis results are compatible with previous investigations.

The program to repatriate American soldiers’ remains has been carried out since September 1988.

Over the past 24 years, JPAC and the Vietnamese Office of Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP) have investigated more than 3,500 cases and unearthed over 500 sites.

The June 22 repatriation ceremony is the 123rd event following the end of the Vietnam War.

At the ceremony, Lieutenant Patrick Keane from JPAC said he highly valued the Vietnamese government’s cooperation on this issue.

About 1,300 Americans are still believed to be missing in Vietnam.